Forum:Wings of the Aces
Many, many moons ago - sometime circa the summer of 1997 - a college junior from a small town in southeast Kansas was retaking his Level I Engineering Physics course over the summer at the University of Oklahoma. He had recently discovered a number of quaint things - among them a couple of marvelous new inventions called "e-mail" and the "Internet". This stupid kid was a gamer, having been introduced to an obscure video game called "Pac-Man" at the tender age of four whilst returning from his cousin Lori's high school graduation at a Pizza Hut in Augusta, Kansas and having been subsequently brought up on early home computer systems like the TRS-80 and gaming consoles like the Atari 2600 and Mattel Intellivision. He also happened to have been instilled with a healthy respect for board and card games by his parents and their friends. As he grew up, he would make his own fold-up paper games that he would carry around in his pocket and would play them with whoever was willing to do so (without ridiculing him). His father introduced him to three video games in particular around the time he entered middle and junior high school - Starflight, Wing Commander and Star Control II - that would become lifelong favorites of his. During his high school years, he began dabbling with the taboo field of pencil-and-paper role-playing games at the prompting of his cousin (whose name will not be mentoned to protect the guilty), who during his sophomore year of high school lent him a second-edition copy of The Star Wars Roleplaying Game from West End, which he heavily borrowed from to make his very first sci-fi RPG system. This same kid would go on in his early-to-middle adult years to make RPG systems out of two of his lifetime favorites, Starflight and Wing Commander, with an attempt to make a Star Control RPG curtailed in the very early stages by his spouse (who at this point is insisting that his next RPG system - if any - will be for real paying money...). Anyway, one day while he was taking a break from his coursework in the dormitory's computer lab, he happened to stumble across a Wing Commander site entitled "A Wolf in the Fold", which chronicled the adventures of the crew of the carrier TCS Fenris as it assisted in the effort to secure the Cynium star system and its Steltek treasures for the service of the Confederation, as part of a campaign entitled "King of the Mountain". This kid was entertained and intrigued - the notion of writing his own fiction regarding the Wing Commander Universe had never occurred to him before (though he had dabbled in creative writing prior to then). He noticed a link to a website called "Acenet Central", and upon clicking it, he was formally introduced to the Wing Commander Aces Club, of which - despite a valiant attempt with his own stealth ship (a "subether") and everything - he never became a member... I am talking about myself, of course. I'm pretty sure that was obvious to anybody reading this, but just in case... As I've mentioned elsewhere on the site, one of my main goals with WCRPG's early creation was to get as much content from the fan community in the game as I possibly could. While I was interested in fan input in general, I was particularly interested in getting in some material from the Aces Club. Unfortunately, by the time I was getting around to writing WCRPG, the Club had pretty much ceased to exist, with only a handful of sites proudly displaying the logo of the Aces when I got started with the Core Rules of WCRPG in 2011. Moreover, many of the core members of the Aces Club were no longer active members of the CIC community, and as I was a newcomer to the CIC at the time I didn't know where or how to go about attempting to contact them. I did attempt to use the Wayback Machine at www.archive.org to recall the Aces site; unfortunately, I found many of the acenet.simplenet.com pages (the only Acenet Central domain of which I was aware at the time) broken, in particular the craft pages. I resigned myself to having a "representative" of the Aces in Chapter 7.4 of the Core Rules, which was Kevin Scholl's Miles D'Arby-class carrier. Interest in getting more Aces materials available for use in WCRPG did not pick up again until July of 2014, which was when WCRPG forum member Doc Wade - the first, and as of this writing still the only forum member at the WCRPG wiki site - asked if materials from the Holding the Line series could be added to the site. Sets of stats for those materials were generated, and because I wanted to use the pictures, an attempt was made to contact Kevin Scholl - which ultimately turned out to be successful. Still, all attempts at converting more Aces materials for WCRPG after that point were failing for lack of data (and I was - and still am as of this writing - more focused on getting An Elegy for Sivar out the door). Things might have stayed in this state of affairs had Doc Wade not registered at the CIC forums shortly before the CIC's 17th birthday celebration and asked the community more directly. The responses received since then have been remarkable - CIC member eshauber had saved almost all of the ship pages from the final iteration of the AceNet Central site, Whistler was able to find the Aces drinks list (which I'ma thinking I'll have to add to this page at some point), and during the birthday celebration itself CIC admin KrisV let us know that the Aces had uploaded their materials to a SolSector.net domain and it had been sitting there on the CIC's server untouched for close to a decade. We also were contacte by Death, the original creator of the Border Worlds Admiral Halsey-class Corvette (one of the ones that eshauber didn't have among his collection) and we were given permission to have it up. Ben Lesnick (the mighty Bandit LOAF) was able to get a hold of Rajan Ragupathy where prior attempts had failed and we finally have formal permission to use his materials on the WCRPG site. A veritable treasure trove of material from the Aces has been opened up in recent days, and I think that only the surface has been scratched. A big thanks goes out to all of those who have been involved with bringing these materials back to light; I find I haven't got the words to express the degree of elation I feel when I look at these materials and what they mean for the WC community as a whole. Which leads us to this page. This page is dedicated to craft from the Aces Club that haven't been presented elsewhere in WCRPG. The initial offerings for this page are from eshauber's and Death's contributions primarily. More materials from the Aces may be added as their creators are found. I will offer a standing invitation to all those who ever built a craft - auxiliary, fighter or capital ship, it matters not - for the Aces Club: if you'd like to see your craft on this page, please let me know, send me a PM, e-mail me or just post what you have down in the general discussion section of this page. Brownie points for whoever finds TCS Fenris and brings her back to life. Just saying... Capi3101 (talk) 14:11, August 20, 2015 (UTC) Ships of the Aces Terran Confederation Rigel contributed by contributed by eshauber, adapted for WCRPG by capi3101, based on a design originally created by Steve Hayes and Thomas Hong for the Wing Commander Aces Club. Brooklyn contributed by eshauber, adapted for WCRPG by capi3101, based on a design originally created by Chris Pipinou for the Wing Commander Aces Club. The original design programme records for this craft were lost during the middle phases of the Nephilim War when the Nephilim occupied UBW territory, though it is generally known that the craft was originally a Confederation post-war Light Cruiser design that was active around the time of the Black Lance Affair. During the Black Lance Affair, two ships of this class - TCS Annapolis and TCS Manila - were captured by Border Worlds forces in an action near Kurasawa. The two cruisers were reflagged and rechristened BWS Kurasawa and BWS Silenos, and were promptly employed in a series of running actions against both Confed and Black Lance forces. Near the end of the Black Lance Affair, the Border Worlds managed to claim a few smaller systems, one of which was home to the three main shipyards for the Brooklyn-class. Verrier Underground, the major Border Worlds shipwright of the time, worked at modifying the shipyards to incorporate standard construction equipment most commonly available within the nascent Union. As well, they redesigned the craft to add anti-torpedo capabilities to the craft. The Kurasawa-class has since served as a catch-all craft for the Outerworlds Naval Reserve. Reasonably versatile, the now eight-strong Kurasawa-class operates in a variety of roles, from carrier escort to long-range border and commerce patrol vessel. Constitution contributed by eshauber, adapted for WCRPG by capi3101, based on a design originally created by John White (with Thomas Hong, Micah Tan, Yan Vaillancourt and Mark Shotwell) for the Wing Commander Aces Club. TCS Constitution and her class were the first of the new true Confederation battleships. She was designed to fulfill the role which Confed’s destroyers, cruisers, and carriers could not carry out effectively - close-range ship-to-ship combat on a large scale. Used as part of a Carrier Battle Group, this vessel comes into its own against enemy capital ships, especially against groups. With the weapons the Constitution-class can bring to bear on a target at close range, few opposing capships can withstand an attack for very long. The BB can also be used for planetary bombardment, using CSMs to destroy hardened ground targets with ease and pinpoint precision. The class also has a minimal fighter complement, used for scouting and combat air patrol (CAP). Construction of the final two vessels of the class was cancelled when the Confederation Grand Assembly approved the development of a dedicated artillery cruiser class, a decision led to the development of the Plunkett-class. Endeavour contributed by eshauber, adapted for WCRPG by capi3101, based on a design originally created by Shaun Rashid for the Wing Commander Aces Club. The Endeavour-class Attack Carrier Project, first implemented in 2677 via the Antares III Shipyard, was implemented in order to replace the Confederation's remaining wartime carriers such as the few remaining Bengal and Concordia class craft, which had grown increasingly obsolete since the war's end. The primary mission of these carriers are to perform quick strike operations against targets that are behind enemy lines. Common targets include military bases, research facilities, convoys, and shipyards. Most of the time, these missions involve attacking and destroying these targets, but in some cases, the mission may be to sabotage or disable a facility. The class fields a limited amount of weaponry and always requires some escort while on active duty. Due to the need for a certain level of secrecy in the missions performed by the Endeavour-class, the escorts typically take the form of a cruiser and two destroyers. In order to deploy aerospace fighters faster, an experimental "drop launch" fighter bay was installed aboard the first two ships of the class, TCS Endeavour and TCS Atlantis; a similar system is scheduled to be implemented aboard the planned Midway supercarrier class. Endeavour-class carriers are designed to have an operational lifetime at least 40 years and are designed to be easily upgraded. Stealth systems have not been implemented, though ships of the class are capable of housing these systems if it is decided to install them at a later time. Leviathan contributed by eshauber, adapted for WCRPG by capi3101, based on a design originally created for the Wing Commander Aces Club Literally and figuratively, TCS Leviathan is in a class by herself. For some time after her entry into Confederation service, she was one of the most powerful warships ever created by Terrankind. Heavily armed, armored, and shielded, and maintained by a crew hand-picked from among the best soldiers in the Confederation's elite Covert Operations Force, no other ship in the known universe stood much of a chance in one-on-one combat against her. Leviathan's mission was simple in nature: self-reliant, long-range exploration into unknown Sectors. To that end, she was equipped with the most advanced scientific and militaristic engineering at the Confederation's disposal at the time. Her design featured two launch bays and an expansive landing bay, arranged into two separate levels at the extreme rear of the ship. Generally, scientific and utility vehicles were housed in the upper bay, while fighter craft make use of the lower. During battle, both bays were equipped for combat readiness. Following years of extensive redesign and testing, a vastly improved Phase-Transit Cannon was mounted along the forward centerline; secondary anti-capital ship armament included four CapShip missile tubes forward and eight Antimatter Guns set in four twin turrets. Leviathan is no longer an active vessel and its military and scientific history is currently classified, though the ship is currently being utilized for training purposes as well as promotional touring, and could be readily refitted for active duty with little advance notice. Los Angeles contributed by contributed by eshauber, adapted for WCRPG by capi3101, based on a design originally created by Alex Crisologo for the Wing Commander Aces Club. The PT Assault Craft originally designed with the main purpose of defending Confederation territory from minor threats and securing lightly-defended areas. Designs for the class were submitted to the TCNDB in 2681 and were approved later that same year. The designers of the PT optimized the craft's small size to further its speed and maneuverability without sacrificing its firepower. The armor and shields were kept down to enhance the craft's maneuvering capabilities, which though not comparable to those of a fighter or bomber are still far better than most front-line capital ships. Unfortunately, the small size of the PT limits its offensive capabilities; it is primarily used for close quarters combat and orbital bombardment duties. With a comparably high speed for a capship, the PT Craft has also found a niche as a "first on the scene" craft, capable of arriving at the scene of an incident with greater firepower than a wing of fighters or bombers. The craft can also be utilized as a fast armored transport if need be, and it is capable of hauling up to thirty tons of equipment or a number of heavily-equipped Marines to their destinations. Its high cargo capacity also allows it to remain deployed for extended periods of time. To improve their operational efficiency, ships of the Los Angeles-class are often deployed in groups of five to twenty vessels depending on the task at hand. Evaluations of the effectiveness of so-called "suicide runs" in inflicting heavy casualties among enemy forces in past conflicts - such as the Terran-Kilrathi War - resulted in the development of more aggressive and desperate measures during combat, and the Los Angeles-class was designed with the capability of conducting such a run while allowing its crew an excellent chance of survival in situations where such extreme tactics were deemed necessary. Upon direct order of the craft's acting CO and acting XO, the "Emergency Engine Overload System" (EEOS) may be engaged, locking the main computer into an automatic sequence of events that initiates upon ejection of the ship's escape pod. When engaged, the ion stream compression engines are overloaded, triggering what was nicknamed by the system's creators as the "Furious Thrust Burst". Upon arriving at a pre-determined set of coordinates or upon depletion of all reserve power, the craft's self-destruct mechanism engages and unleashes the destructive power of its matter-antimatter power plant, creating an explosion comparable to the simultaneous detonation of eight Mark-IV torpedoes. Union of Border Worlds Admiral Halsey contributed by Death, adapted for WCRPG by capi3101, based on a design originally for the Wing Commander Aces Club. Andorran Republic Raptor contributed by contributed by eshauber, adapted for WCRPG by capi3101, based on a design originally created by Dan Hung for the Wing Commander Aces Club. The stealth sloop started as a project sponsored by Confederation Commodore Schnee and Colonel Pavlov after the end of the Terran-Kilrathi War. The idea evolved from an attempt to utilize the Confederation SHROUD cloaking device on capital ships. Both Schnee and Pavlov supported the idea of building a small capital ship. With the end of the War, their idea was considered both too radical and excessively wasteful; the project was shelved and soon both Schnee and Pavlov were retired during the Confederation's general demobilization. After their retirement, Schnee and Pavlov were employed by Andorra's Ariana Shipyards. The stealth sloop became a pet project between the two men, with designs refined and modified as new technologies became available. In 2673, when the Secession War erupted, the fledgling Andorran Republic found itself in desperate need of capital ships. Schnee and Pavlov submitted their design; since it was essentially complete and production could begin almost immediately, the stealth sloop was duly approved and put into production. Within a short period of time, the first Raptor was built. Essentially a very light corvette-class, the Raptor was designed for the sole purpose of getting in close to an enemy capital ship undetected. Due to the power consumption of its cloaking shroud, the design lacks long-range guns, instead relying on torpedoes and a small compliment of anti-capital ship missiles for its primary offensive punch. Since it was obvious that the greatest threat against the class would be fast and agile fighters, the ship's original design included five short range gun turrets; later upgrades upgraded the turrets to also fire image recognition missiles. In the Battle of Neudresden, the effective use of Raptors enabled the Andorran Republic to halt the Confederation advance and annihilate the combined force of several Confederation fleets. Soon after, the Republic's existing compliment of Raptors were organized into fighting groups (known as "Raptor Packs"), which utilized tactics similar to that of the German U-boats from 20th century Terran history. The number of Raptors that the Andorrans have built is a closely guarded secret. Furthermore, it is rumored that newer versions of the class include even better stealth systems, ensuring that the reputation of Raptors as the "Shadow Hunters" will remain undiminished for the foreseeable future. Zodiac contributed by contributed by eshauber, adapted for WCRPG by capi3101, based on a design originally created by J.N. "Nazerath" Baker for the Wing Commander Aces Club. The initial designs for the Zodiac-class were first drawn up by Confederation R&D specialist and Andorra-native Anya Farmer about a year after the Battle of Earth. Inspired by the behind-the-lines strikes of escort carriers in the year leading up to the False Armistice, the Zodiac-class was intended to operate independently and penetrate behind enemy lines, deliver its payload to shipyards and fleet staging areas and using quick-strikes and the same hit-and-run tactics at which the Andorran fleet would later excel. The project met with countless delays from cost over-runs and equipment failures (many of its key systems were still being developed) at the time of its initial development and by the time late-stage development was in full gear, the war was over and the project was mothballed. During the Black Lance Affair, a restart of the craft's development was considered by Confed, but the conflict was too short-lived, and the design remained on the shelf. Finally, during the Andorran Secession War, Anya found herself at odds with her former employers and seeing that the nascent fleet of Andorra needed need new ships, Anya revived the project with her homeworld. With the advent of new technology, the improvement of proven systems, and significant additional research, a prototype was constructed and the Zodiac-class was born. Zodiac-class craft are intended to operate as "wolfpack" units once their number begun significant. The lead vessel of the class, ARS Zodiac (CVL-400), is to be followed by another twelve craft planned for the class, each named for one of the twelve signs of the astrological zodiac. The possibility for expansion exists, if field performance is deemed satisfactory and funds allow. The class was equipped with a DSSS in order to fulfill part of its intended role as a strike/recon craft, using portions of its hull as a built-in broad-range antenna and allowing the craft to scan at extreme ranges in comparison to normal radar or LIDAR systems. To aid in infiltration, Zodiac-class craft are equipped with certain stealth features. Not to be confused with a true cloaking technology, this stealth passively jams an enemy's radar (even at close range) though visual detection is still possible. Dark matte colors and a low cross-section aid against visual detection. A quick strike vessel in every since of the term, the ship can perform extensive missions for Andorran Intelligence and Covert Operations and placement of personnel behind enemy lines, in addition to quick raids behind enemy lines on merchant routes and hit-and-fade strikes on main fleet bodies. Due to the addition of many extensive (and expensive) systems, the weapons and defensive systems of the craft are light at best, including a relatively minimal fighter payload. The ship relies mostly on high speed and formidable maneuvering capabilities; if she were to go toe-to-toe with most modern capital ships, she would likely would not survive to tell the tale, so current doctrine is for this craft to flee as quickly as possible if confronted. Vehicles of the Aces Kilrathi Imperium Kurtahk contributed and adapted for WCRPG by capi3101, based on a design originally created by Micah "Assassin" Tan for the Wing Commander Aces Club. Designed to provide a solid medium fighter class in the midst of growing conflicts with various forces known and unknown, the Kurtahk medium fighter was intended to solidify the position of the Kilrathi Imperium. The craft is intended to be produced very quickly and easily, minimizing the resources required to construct the ship while still providing an extremely worthy battle opponent. Designed to operate from moon bases or carriers (the latter being the preferred logistical support areas because they can support large numbers of fighters), the craft is intended to operate in swarms numbering between twenty-four to thirty-two craft, as opposed to the standard Kilrathi squadron of eight craft. Thus Kurtahks normally deploy in one group what other squadrons would deploy in three to four. The reason for this essentially enlarged squadron is the sheer firepower and numbers that can be brought to bear at the same time, minimizing the amount of specialized ships that would be required to perform such ordinary missions as space superiority and fighter sweeps. The Kurtahk can also be deployed in standard squadron sizes, and be used as normal medium fighters in the medium fighter role. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Kurtahk fighter is the contrast of its characteristics. It has excellent shielding but relatively weak armor, high speed but mediocre maneuverabilty, and a relatively heavy amount of ordnance but relatively weak energy guns. However, when deployed correctly, the fighter is deadly. Possessing excellent atmospheric capability, the Kurtahk may also be utilized as a planetary bombardment craft with its missile racks retrofitted to carry high-yield explosives or nuclear warheads. Groups fitted with such armament can utterly devastate a planet, making its capture by a Kilrathi marine contingent far simpler. Andorran Republic Kestrel contributed by contributed by eshauber, adapted for WCRPG by capi3101, based on a design originally created by Dan "Sojourner" Hung for the Wing Commander Aces Club Shortly after the Truce of Dayan, the Andorran Kriegsacademy decided to take a methodical look at the fighter statistics gathered over the past few years of war. The Kriegsacademy soon came to the unpleasant and surprising conclusion that there really were only two kinds of fighter pilots: aces (i.e. pilots who shot down five or more enemy fighters) and targets (i.e. pilots who got shot down) - there was no middle ground. During the Secession War, it was determined that a new fighter pilot had less than thirty percent chance of surviving his first three engagements, that only a quarter of all fighter pilots ever destroy another fighter, and only ten percent of these ever shot down five or more enemy fighters in order qualify for the august title of Ace. The remaining pilots were mostly victims of the aces. The Andorran War Directorate debated over these findings and eventually decided to implement a fighter program that was tailored to the results of the Kriegsacademy research. One of two fighter classes was tailored toward the rookies, designed to be cheap but durable, which in theory would enhance the rookie's chance of survival. The specs of the "rookie fighter" placed emphasis on firepower and speed over maneuverability, and a flexible mission profile over role-specific capability. The firm that eventually won the design contest for the "rookie-fighter" was the Novy Kursk-based Soboyan-Yakovlev Manufacturing (SYM); their design was known as the Kestrel. The designers at SYM had the innovative idea of casting the entire hull of the fighter as a single piece of durasteel. A difficult and complex procedure, the process vastly increased the structural integrity of the hull, thus enabling it to absorb far more damage given the same physical thickness of the armor. SYM also pioneered the Multi-purpose Armament Slot (MAS) system to be incorporated into the design - unlike traditional missile mounting points that could only be used with certain types of missiles/torpedoes, the MAS system could be adapted for a myriad of armaments and modules, making the fighters adaptable to a wide variety of missions. In addition to traditional gun mounts, Kestrels also have two wing-tip Particle Gun turrets capable of targeting enemies to the flanks and rear of the spacecraft. An automated tracking and firing system controls the turrets, enabling a Kestrel to engage up to three enemies simultaneously with guns. Of course, a manual override feature is included in order to give the pilot the control of the turrets if desired. Soon after the Kestrel entered service in early 2680, SYM began receiving praises from all quarters of the Andorran military. The average pilot loved the Kestrel as it had enough firepower to vaporize everything in front of it and enough armor to get its pilot back to their bunk safely. The engineering chiefs fell for the Kestrel because it was rugged and simple to maintain, with plenty of room for tinkering. Commanders lauded the Kestrel for its robust performance and versatility. At the time of this writing, the Kestrel is continuing to be produced in large quantities and has rapidly become the baseline fighter of the Andorran Republic. Jaeger contributed and adapted for WCRPG by capi3101, based on a design originally created by J.N. "Nazerath" Baker for the Wing Commander Aces Club. After having equipped its Luftwaffe and MarineFlieger early on in its history with Osprey and Kestrel craft from their initial dual-fighter program, the fledgling Andorran Republic moved on towards a goal of fulfilling additional needs in its military divisions. Chief among the requirements that still needed to be fulfilled was a modernized and cost-effective heavy strike craft capable of competing with new Confederation designs coming on line such as the F-108. In 2678, a competitive bid was conducted by the Republic to build a new heavy multi-role fighter; this contract was won by Mistaya Aerospace. Mistaya pulled out all the stops with their winning design, the Jaeger. Assembled at Mistaya Aerospace's plant on the third planet in the industrialized Concord star system, the first prototype took flight on 2679.226, with weapons and avionics trials proceeding throughout the following year. No major problems were encountered and the Jaeger proved to be a forgiving spacecraft to fly. By 2680, the Jaeger was ready to enter service, with Mistaya receiving an order for 500 aerospaceframes. The first units to be equipped with the Jaeger are expected to reach initial operational capability by early 2681. While still an expensive fighter to produce, the Jaeger ranges from 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of the Osprey (estimated) while maintaining the multi-role status called for by its designers. Designed with versatility in mind, the Jaeger is a strike craft capable of flying long-range escort and strike missions as well as point defense. The addition of HARM warheads also creates a fantastic "Wild Weasel" platform. In strike roles against capships, the dual-Laser cannon modules can be replaced by a pair of Stormfire Mk.2 cannons as well as their ammunition supplies. Engines on the craft are mounted on both the wing and the rear, with one potential maneuver of this configuration being what the craft's test pilots coined "Z-sliding", where the ship travels on a certain vector, maintaining constant thrust to his rear, fixed engines. The two thrust pods are rotated up or down on equal angles and fired, causing the fighter to slide up or down, while facing the original direction. Sporting six interchangeable dual missile points, the Jaeger can perform near any role a commander may ask for, while its four fixed Tachyon guns and twin dual-Laser pods present a nasty surprise for any craft that makes it into the craft's gun range. The four Mistaya Ion powerplants and wing-tip thrust pods give a ship of the Jaeger's size and mass exceptional maneuverability in the dogfighter role. Raven contributed by contributed by eshauber, adapted for WCRPG by capi3101, based on a design originally created by Dan "Sojourner" Hung for the Wing Commander Aces Club Following the Secession War, the Andorrans developed a fleet doctrine that called for extremely aggressive reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance against enemy forces. The increased emphasis on intelligence gathering demanded a specialized craft, and the Raven was born. The Raven was developed with the dual roles of reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance in mind, designed to "get there, take a look, and get back". To perform its reconnaissance role, the Raven was fitted with a suite of advanced sensors and sensor counter-measures as well as sophisticated cloaking and stealth capabilities. A special nil-echo transmitter was designed as part of the craft's systems in order to ensure that its transmissions would not compromise its location. The Raven performs its counter-reconnaissance role by forming a screening line, with several Ravens forming a broad line well-ahead of a base of operations and covering all possible approach vectors that may be used by enemy reconnaissance units. Once the craft's powerful sensor suite detects incoming bogies, roaming combat space patrols are then vectored onto the enemy units. The Raven also has an integral Target Illumination Missile Guidance System, so it could guide beam-rider missiles onto slower moving targets. In addition to fulfilling its designated role well, the Raven is also an excellent strategic surveillance craft. There are also rumors of a Raven variant with the capability of carrying a crew of two, who rotate in shifts in order to keep their target under continual observation. The key point about the craft is that it was never meant to fight; it has thin armor, weak shields, and few weapons, and would be outclassed by the simplest of light fighters. 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